Lumenocity Returns For Final Time, Moves Indoors

The popular light and music show Lumenocity will be back for a fourth and final year. The twist this year is that the show is going indoors.

With Music Hall slated to close at the end of May for renovations, the Cincinnati Symphony says Lumenocity will be staged inside at the orchestra's temporary home at the Taft Theatre.

In a release, the Symphony says the show "will surround the audience with spectacular visual effects and the sounds of a live orchestra." Each show is schedule to run 45 minutes.

The statement continues, "This year's program, with its "Re-imagine" theme, will be a fully immersive experience unlike anything audiences have seen before.

"The all-new 45-minute Lumenocity program, the entirety of which will include spectacular image-mapping choreographed to music creating an immersive experience unique to every seat in the theatre, will feature the Orchestra performing as both the CSO and the Cincinnati Pops."

A new company, Lightborne, is responsible for creating the image mapping and light show. "It's an honor for us to work with our hometown Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Lumenocity," says Lightborne President Scott Durban. "Our team is putting together a visual experience that will tell a story, highlight the Orchestra and make the beautiful architecture inside the Taft Theatre come alive."

In addition to moving indoors, there will be additional performances. Eight performances are schedule over three days, Aug. 5-7, 2016. A 'block party' style festival will be held outside the Taft, much like in Washington Park in previous years. A "giant LED screen" will broadcast "what's happening inside the Taft."

The show will also be broadcast on CET (Channel 48), WCPO (Channel 9) and WVXU sister station 90.9 Classical WGUC.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 5. The estimated cost to produce Lumenocity is $1.5 million.

Ticket prices for all performances range from $12 (partial view) to $20 (full view). The CSO is waiving any service charge fees, so the amount posted is the amount paid. Seats are selected at the point of purchase; seating at the Taft Theatre is not general admission.

People who have tickets to Lumenocity shouldn't be worried about rain stopping the show. Cincinnati Symphony and Pops spokesperson Meghan Berneking says the event will go on, even if it has to wait for a storm to pass.